The United States Heavyweight Championship
Whether it was the NWA, Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW or the WWE, The United States Heavyweight Championship has been a symbol of the Great American Bash for over 20 years and it has also been the only championship that has been defended in more wrestling promotions than any other championship in the history of professional wrestling.
The U.S. Title goes back to 1975 when the legendary Harley Race became the 1st man to win the United States Heavyweight Championship and then 10 years later, the NWA Jim Crockett Promotions introduced The Great American Bash, and the rest was history.
Let's take a look @ the History of the U.S. Heavyweight Champion @ The Great American Bash from 1985-2007
On July 6, 1985 @ the very 1st GAB PPV, Magnum T.A. def. Kamala via DQ to retain the NWA U.S. Heavyweight Championship
On July 18, 1987 The Total Package Lex Luger def. Nakita Koloff to retain the NWA U.S. Heavyweight Championship
In 1988, Barry Windham (The son of WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan) def. The American Dream Dusty Rhodes to retain the NWA U.S. Strap
In 1989, Lex Luger def. Ricky Steamboat via DQ to retain the belt
In 1990, Lex Luger did it again, he def. Marc Callous (The Undertaker) to retain the U.S. Gold once again and it was also the final GAB PPV under the NWA Banner
In 1991, the U.S. Title and its PPV were changed from the NWA to WCW by Ted Turner and on that year, Lex Luger who was the WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion def. Barry Windham in a Steel Cage Top Conder's Match to win the newly created WCW World Heavyweight Championship
and BTW, Ric Flair left the WCW prior to the Great American Bash & took the Big Gold NWA (later WCW) World Heavyweight Championship b/c of a dispute w/then WCW Exec. Vice President Jim Herd, you see, Herd wanted Flair to drop the Big Gold title to Lex Luger, but he said that he was NOT going to drop the belt b/c Flair didn't considered Lex Luger as World Championship Material, and on that night, it became THE worse GAB in the history of Pro Wrestling and also, after the U.S. Strap was vacated, STING def. Stunning Steve Austin (Stone Cold) to become the WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion for the 1st time
In 1995, WCW brought back the Great American Bash and on that night, STING def. Meng in the tournament finals to become the NEW WCW United States Heavyweight Champion for the 2nd time, it was also the 2nd time that STING has won the U.S. Gold after it was vacant, and also, the reason why the U.S. Gold was vacant was b/c then WCW Commissioner AWA Alumni Nick Bockwinkel had stripped Vader of the WCW U.S. Heavyweight Championship b/c of his actions
In 1996, future TNA Wrestler Konnan def. Mexican Great El Gato to retain the WCW U.S. Heavyweight Belt
In 1998, GOLDBERG def. Konnan to retain the WCW U.S. Strap
In 2000, Scott Steiner def. Tank Abbott and Rick Steiner in the Asylum Match to retain the U.S. Strap and it was also, the last tim ethe Great American Bash ran under the WCW Banner
In 2004 3 years after Vince McMahon and the WWE purchased WCW from Time Warner, The Great American bash returned to PPV after a 4 year absence
It became a tradition for the Smackdown! Brand and in 2003, then SD! General Manager Stephanie McMahon Levesque resurrected the U.S. Strap and renamed it the WWE United States Heavyweight Championship and it has became the exclusive property of SD! for 4 years, which to this day is still the property of SD!
In 2004 just 1 week before the 4th of July, John Cena won a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match against Renee Dupree, Booker T. and Rob Van Dam in order to retain the WWE U.S. Heavyweight Championship
In 2005, Orlando Jordan def. the late Chris Benoit to retain the U.S. Strap
In 2006, Finlay def. William Regal to retain the U.S. Strap as well and it was also the final Great American Bash PPV under the SD! Brand Banner
and in 2007, The Great American Bash became a RAW, SD! and ECW PPV
and on that night, MVP retain the U.S. Heavyweight Championship against Matt Hardy
and now, tonight, Matt Hardy, who is NOW the U.S. Heavyweight Champion will have an opportunity to defend the belt tonight.
This time, against Shelton Benjamin.
and that's your look @ The symbol of The Great American Bash:
THE UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
The symbol of Professional Wrestling.
I hope that you enjoyed the history here, and feel free to leave comments @ anytime.
credit: oww.com and wwe.com